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Five CSU Athletic Teams Earn NCAA Public Recognition Award for Academics

Awards recognize outstanding academic performance of student athletes over the last 4 years

The Cleveland State men's golf, women's basketball, women's cross country, women's tennis and women's track and field teams all received public recognition today by the NCAA for their latest multi-year Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores, posting multi-year APRs in the top-10 percent of their respective sports.

The APR, which annually recognizes outstanding performances in the classroom, is an annual scorecard of academic achievement calculated for all Division I sports teams nationally.

CSU's five teams were second most among Horizon League schools.

Joe Jaketic's cross country team has been recognized for the 12th straight year, making his team one of 93 teams in the country to earn the Public Recognition Award in each of the 12 years of the program.

This marks the second straight year that Steve Weir's men's golf program has earned the award and the sixth straight year and seventh time overall for Brian Etzkin's women's tennis team being honored.

The women's track and field team, led by head coach Maddie Outman, is earning the award for the second straight year, while Kate Peterson Abiad's women's basketball program is earning the award for the first time.

The awards are presented each year to teams finishing among the top-10 percent of their respective sport based on the most recent multi-year APR. The calculation of APR tracks the academic progress of each student-athlete and includes eligibility, retention and graduation. The most recent APRs are multi-year rates based on scores from the 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16 academic years.

The NCAA recognized 1,203 teams for high achievement, representing 746 women's teams and 457 men's or mixed squads. A total of 306 schools had teams recognized with Public Recognition Awards. Scores for programs in the top-10 percent ranged from 984 to a perfect 1,000, with 1,090 teams earning a perfect score.

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